Groot Vleeshuis

The Groot Vleeshuis features a steep, stepped-gable roof topped by a small, wooden ventilation tower. Inside, salt-cured hams hang from the wooden rafters, a tradition dating back to the fifteenth century when this building served as the central meat market for Ghent. Authorities mandated that all butchers in the city sell their meat here to ensure quality control and tax collection. If a butcher sold meat elsewhere, officials confiscated the product and donated it to the local hospitals or the poor.